Education
Music Darien Public Schools winter concerts 11-28-17

Holiday Winter Concerts Coming to Darien’s Public Schools

By |
Download PDF

The Darien Public Schools Music Department would like to announce their schedule of upcoming holiday winter concert programs for the month of December. The concerts will feature nearly 2,000 band, chorus, and orchestra students performing in 10 concert programs throughout the district. “The students and teachers have been busy preparing their music for the upcoming concert season and are looking forward to sharing their musical accomplishments with their friends and families, ” said Director of Music Rick Sadlon. Here’s the schedule of concerts:

Dec. 4 — Middlesex Middle School, Grades 6 and 7 Winter Chorus Concert, 6:30 p.m. — Darien High School Auditorium
Dec.

Education
Greg Darin teacher of the year 11-21-17

Darien Educator Named Connecticut Tech/Engineering Teacher of the Year

By |
Download PDF

It was a good month for the Technology & Engineering Department at Darien High School with one teacher was named state ‘Teacher of the Year’ and another invited to a national conference to speak about fuel cell cars. DHS teacher Greg Darin was named the Connecticut Technology & Engineering Education Association High School Teacher of the Year for 2017-18. “I understand there was some stiff competition this year,” said Richard Reynolds, Technology Education department coordinator. “He is a stellar teacher, a wonderfully resourceful and respected department member. It gives me great pride to be able to work alongside him every day.”

Darin was presented the award at a statewide conference in Portland, Conn., which was attended by DHS Assistant Principal Kate Dimoulas and members of his department.

Education
Holmes School Veterans Day Palen Althoff

Darien Schools Hold Veterans Day Observances, Invite Veterans

By |
Download PDF

In honor of Veterans Day, the Darien Public Schools hosted a variety of assemblies and gatherings for students last week. The following is a snapshot of efforts to honor those who answered the call of duty. Hindley School

Over 30 veterans attended the 12th Hindley Veterans Day Share. Fourth and fifth grade students kept the school in a patriotic mood with songs like, “The Star Spangled Banner” and “God Bless America.”  The question and answer portion of the assembly was informative. “Veterans answered the students’ questions with facts and stories that complimented their learning about this special day,” said Principal DJ Colella.

Education
brenner tv79 3-13-16

Brenner: Darien School District Shouldn’t Buy Pear Tree Point School Property

By |
Download PDF

Schools Superintendent Dan Brenner in the past two weeks has gone from seeming reservations to outright rejection of the idea to buy the land and buildings of Pear Tree Point School, which is going defunct at the end of the school year. Brenner explained his reasons to the Board of Education last week: The property, located on a prime piece of real estate in town, is too pricey; and the buildings aren’t suited to classroom sizes of Darien Public Schools. Also, there’s no cafeteria. Brenner also said that the property doesn’t fit in with the master plan for the district’s facilities. “We have taken a look, just because a lot of community members have approached me, saying, ‘Did you know?

News
brenner tv79 3-13-16

Superintendent: School District’s Centralized Printing Procedure Is Saving $200,000

By |
Download PDF

Centralizing the printing of teaching materials in the town’s elementary schools and middle school is saving Darien $200,000 a year, and the procedure hasn’t even been started for Darien High School. That’s what Schools Superintendent Dan Brenner told the Board of Education last week at the board’s regular meeting. “I am pleased to report that it appears that our copy center will save us approximately $200,000,” Brenner said at last Tuesday’s meeting of the board. “I can say that because it is allowing us to remove personnel in the buildings who were doing only copying,” he said. “We no longer need their services to do that copying, and so we’ve been able to redeploy and not fill their positions.”

Education

Why Pear Tree Point School Closed and Possibilities for the Future, According to Its Headmaster

By |
Download PDF

The economic downturn in 2007 and 2008 led to a drop in births in this area, and some other economic factors have also made it difficult for private schools in Fairfield County to survive, said David Trigaux, headmaster of Pear Tree Point School, which will close at the end of the school year. “We’re the fourth independent school to close in this area,” Trigaux said in an interview Wednesday. He listed three recent closings: Canaan Ridge School in North Stamford, Connecticut Friends School (which now serves preschool children) in Wilton and the Beacon School in Stamford. The economic jolts 10 years ago “produced a super low birth rate, so that produced fewer children over time,” Trigaux said. In later years, there were fewer families with high-paying financial breadwinners, and that cut back the demand for private education in general.

Education
Darien Public Schools

Eight New Administrators Recently Appointed for Darien Public Schools

By |
Download PDF

Two assistant principals and six academic department supervisors have been appointed over the past month by the Darien Board of Education, the town school district has announced. All will begin in late August in time for the new school year. Two other administrative positions remain to be filled. The department chairpersons are new to the district and are responsible for providing instructional leadership, supervision and articulation in specific content areas. In an announcement, the school district provided this information on the new administrators:

 
Kate Dimoulas, DHS Assistant Principal
Kate Dimoulas will join DHS as assistant principal, replacing Ellen Spark.